The world’s data is growing exponentially. By 2020 the global‘dataverse’ will reach 44 zettabytes (44 trillion gigabytes) —the amount needed to digitize all human speech throughout history.The New York Stock Exchange gives us a glimpse into this growth,with each listed share requiring at least ten associated data series.

In today’s financial ecosystem, a seemingly isolated event can rippleacross geographies and economies for years — even decades.In the US, the companies tracked by the S&P indices connect to virtuallyevery major industry worldwide. Over time we can see trends in growth,highlighting key events in history and the interconnected nature of industries.

Growth is a matter of survival. Adapt or die. Like a single cell evolving intoa higher life form, the financial system gets more sophisticated every day.Industries change, divide and multiply in the pursuit of opportunity and progress.In the US, the S&P 500 shows the effects of natural selection on markets.

Today, emerging economies are playing a larger role on the world stage.The greater diversity of players brings increased opportunity.While the US goods flow has doubled since the 1970s, it’s dwarfedby the five-fold explosion of international portfolio flows.

About the data

Historical market data provided by Global Financial Data, Inc.

2020 global data volume projections sourced from Digital Universe of Opportunities: Rich Data and the Increasing Value of the Internet of Things by International Data Corporation | April 2017

Historical estimates for digitizing all human speech sourced from After Digital: Computation as Done by Brains and Machines by James A. Anderson, Oxford University Press | 2017

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growthX200

The explosion of shares listed on the New York Stock Exchange since 1900

The impact of historical events across S&P industries since the 1870s

The evolution of S&P 500 industries mirrors societal progress since the 1870s

The increasing growth and complexity of international goods trade and portfolio flows

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GROWTHX200

Throughout history, assets have been bought, sold, traded and accumulated to ensure the future prosperity of investors everywhere.

Visualize 200 years of growth

Today, the global financial system is a vast network of assets, institutions, policies and economies. Data has emerged as an asset all its own. Every day the volume and complexity of data grows exponentially, and investors are looking for help making sense of it.

With insight from our more than two centuries serving clients, we’re exploring the trends and events that have shaped the growth of the financial system – from the exponential explosion of data to the scale, complexity and connectivity of global markets.

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Throughout history, assets have been bought, sold, traded and accumulated to ensure the future prosperity of investors everywhere.

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Today, the global financial system is a vast network of assets, institutions, policies and economies. Data has emerged as an asset all its own. Every day the volume and complexity of data grows exponentially, and investors are looking for help making sense of it.

With insight from our more than two centuries serving clients, we’re exploring the trends and events that have shaped the growth of the financial system – from the exponential explosion of data to the scale, complexity and connectivity of global markets.